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Table of Contents
1) Human Trafficking Across Borders: Mexico to the United States
Alison O'Boylehttp://vimeo.com/24910170
Our world has close to seven billion people in it; twenty-seven million of whom are trapped in modern day slavery. Forty thousand of those slaves are trafficked into the U.S. with the largest numbers of victims originating from China, Mexico, and Vietnam. A 2009 census study revealed that there are 48.4 million persons of Hispanic heritage living in the United States, making the Hispanic population the fastest-growing minority group.[1]The border between Mexico and the United States encompasses both busy cities and largely uninhabited wilderness areas that are treacherous due to lack of water and food. Illegal immigration by Mexicans to the U.S. has become an increasingly sensitive and controversial subject to many in the U.S. The important distinction between Mexican and other Hispanic persons being trafficked into the U.S. as slaves versus Mexicans being smuggled into the U.S. as immigrants seeking work, is extremely blurry and fragile. In this paper, I hope to objectively discuss, and examine the differences between a Mexican in search for the American dream, and a Mexican exploited and trapped in the underground and devastating world of modern day slavery and why we are forced to reckon with the differences.
The roots and origins of slavery in Mexico and the rest of Latin America run deep as it appears even before that nation’s founding. Dating back to the Conquistadors and the New World, the Mexicans were dependent almost entirely on slave labor. Enslaving the indigenous or non-Catholics, the Spaniards, especially those who arrived with Cortez, were given encomiendas or plots of land to harvest and were “given” the indigenous people who had lived on that land for generations. While many Spaniards involved in the religious community of the New World found fault with the use of slaves, slavery was not abolished in Mexico until 1824.[2] Abolishing slavery in Mexico, however, was unfortunately not the end of all slavery practices against Mexicans. The slavery business moved underground and hidden from the public eye and gradually evolved to include victims who would serve as de facto slaves for different type of businesses in need of labor for different types of services. Historic U.S. figures such as Cesar Chavez eventually brought the poor working conditions of immigrant farm workers to the attention of the U.S. public making the public ask, is slavery really over or did slavery just evolve to a more modern form?
There are many reasons why the institution of slavery has changed in Mexico since 1824, the main being our world economy is constantly developing and becoming increasingly more industrialized and serving global markets. Globalization has resulted in some parts of the world advancing, and becoming more progressive countries, leaving others behind in the dust. One of the countries left behind was Mexico. Because of this, many Mexicans want to enter the United States to achieve the American Dream, to seek rewarding work and enjoy the higher standard of living they hear so much about. However, due to poverty and strict immigration protocols, people who wish to cross the border have to resort to less conspicuous and dangerous routes and means. These can entail slavery and human trafficking. Many studies have also shown the strong correlation between poverty and lack of economic opportunity and human trafficking. Some figures suggest that 44% of countries with extreme or moderate poverty have slavery in many sectors, while only 9% of countries with middle income, or rich nations have slavery in many sectors.[3] The trend of trafficking Mexicans into the United States is also due to the demand for cheap labor to make cheap products or provide other services and increase profit for business owners.
The political and civil corruption in Mexico is also accountable for much of the human trafficking present. For example, less educated economic refugees from rural villages are now searching and competing for jobs with millions of educated people in the cities. The Mexican government has chosen to ignore the welfare and education of these people, and providing them no aid, leaving them especially vulnerable to human trafficking and to the mercy of drug cartels and criminal gangs. These refugees have lost “the neighbors, the church, and the customs of the rural village” but most importantly the hope that the government will help them.[4]The extreme poverty and “lack of economic growth in the Latin American region, coupled with historical migration patterns, have boosted an already booming industry for the illegal smuggling and trafficking of people.”[5] While some seek to reach the U.S. for family reunification, most make the hard journey to flee poverty in order to send money home and provide better lives for their children. All aspects of poverty such as low education levels or inability to read and write, gender discrimination, social conflicts (especially the drug wars currently in Mexico), and government corruption contribute to the thriving human trafficking business in Mexico. This poverty is explicitly exhibited in Mexico City, where the population is 20 million and more than half of the population live in “shacks and lean-to’s of cardboard and scrap wood without basic services” or government support.[6] This example shows just one instance of vulnerable people subject to the wrath of human trafficking.
Other regions of Mexico especially vulnerable to human trafficking like Mexico City include, Chiapas, Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca, and Tlaxcala (a major source of sex trafficking).[7]While these regions are considered “hot spots,” the entirety of Mexico is a huge “source, transit, and destination for men, women, children, indigenous people, and undocumented migrants subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.”[8]It is important to note that not all trafficked slaves that cross the U.S. border from Mexico are Mexican. These slaves may also come from a wide range of regions from “South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Asia, to Africa” to provide a wide range of services.[9]
“Lured by fraudulent employment opportunities or deceptive offers of romantic relationships” Mexicans and others fall prey to recruiters, who frequently are part of their close-knit villages and entice them to embark on a human trafficking journey.[10] In some of the more rural villages in Mexico, drug cartels threaten and force villagers to become slave for traffickers or to transport drugs. In fact, some gangs such as the Zetas are reputed to have kidnapped migrating people enslaved them and murdered many who would not cooperate. For the most part, Mexicans seeking to come to the U.S. rely on professional guides/smugglers commonly referred to as “coyotes” to “make the crossing that can kill”.[11] Due to tighter border controls and driven by poverty, “migrants rely on these underground channels, and smugglers charge exorbitant fees to be paid through indentured servitude.”[12]
Once the Mexicans migrants have successfully crossed the border, the majority of them head to the top four locations of Florida, New York, California or Texas. From there, laborers usually take one of three ‘streams.’ These are the Eastern Stream, which begins “in Florida and travels up to Ohio, New York and Maine,” the Midwestern Stream, which begins “in southern Texas and branches off through every Midwestern state,” and the Western Stream, which begins “in southern California and hugs the west coast up to Washington state or heads northeast from central California to North Dakota.”[13] These ‘streams’ and locations are dependent upon growing and harvesting seasons and can be very divergent. Once the laborers arrive to their destination, they are given “fake names, fake Social Security cards, and few rights, causing the migrant workers to stay invisible in plain sight.”[14]
The Mexican migrants provide myriad services varying from forced labor, street begging, construction, agriculture, domestic service, food processing, manufacturing and sex slavery. While escaping their seemingly hopeless existence in Mexico, the reality confronting them in the U.S. is often bleak. An account from a man engaged in agricultural trafficking from Mexico, Miguel, exemplifies the dilemma stating, “it’s a scary thing if you come here illegally. If you try to work you could end up in the same situation as a slave.”[15] Another example of a different form of slavery is the story of Inez, Maria, and Rosa. In 1997, the three women were forced into a sex slavery industry in Florida, where they were constantly guarded and repeated raped by their owner.[16] Because of the vulnerable state of Mexican migrants in America, like most slaves, these women are trapped in a world not only by their trafficker or owner but also by the societal perceptions of illegal aliens in the United States. The traffickers often remind the slaves that, even if they do escape, they will be deported. Unaware of their rights, these slaves succumb to the oppression and continue their hidden lives. It is hard for people to reveal that they have been trafficked because coming forward about being a victim also reveals that they are illegal immigrants. However, for the many legal immigrants who are trafficked, they remain trapped because of their inability to speak English or are unaware of their rights in the United States and the programs and opportunities available.
Today, Mexico is considered a Tier Two nation, meaning that it does not fully comply with the U.S Trafficking Victim Protection Act’s minimum standards, but that it is making efforts to comply. Striving for progress, Mexico recently achieved its first conviction in its battle against human trafficking, and has created a public awareness program funded by $1.4 million, and continues to work towards a National Trafficking Action Plan. In addition, Mexico has trained immigration officers to identify trafficking in all its forms, publically endorsed the United Nations’ Drugs and Crime’s Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking (becoming the first Latin American country to do so), and continues to forge partnerships with prevention organizations. Mexico has established victim assistance services as well, setting up shelters for victims offering psychological, medical, and legal services. Although Mexico has made significant efforts to combat trafficking, its overall efforts remain inadequate. Although Mexico claims to have rescued 70 trafficking victims, official 2004 estimates suggest that there may be as many as 16,000 Mexican and South Americans living in sex and labor slavery.[17] The U.S. Department of State suggests that “given the magnitude, investigations, prosecutions, convictions, and sentences remain low and victim services remain” insufficient.[18] It is often thought that “public fear or criminal organizations impedes” the effectiveness “of the government and civil society” and “some local governments tolerate and sometimes are complicit in trafficking.”[19]
On the other side of the border, the United States has made significant efforts to manage and stop human trafficking across its Mexican border, making the United States a Tier One nation. However, as the United States made its immigration and border policies stronger, that also increased the demand for illicit border crossings and the use of coyotes or other illegal and dangerous methods. The U.S. also struggles with distinguishing between smuggling and trafficking of Mexicans, “since the lines between ‘undocumented’ migrants and those trafficked are fragile, if not impossible to differentiate.”[20]
In efforts to further aid trafficking victims, the United States could create a better T-Visa program to encourage applicants and make the temporary residence and eligibility permits to work more available to those who need them. In doing so, it would also be beneficial to enact a public awareness program to help those still trapped – that there are options, they have rights, and the United States government as well as local governments are there to help.[21]By creating a more just world and dealing with the inequalities exacerbated by globalization, the U.S. can help to eliminate the factors that push people to human trafficking like poverty, political/civil unrest, famine, disease, and religious/ethnic/racial prosecution.
Although all human trafficking numbers are rough estimates due to the nature of the crime, we can only imagine the full magnitude of the crisis. Nevertheless, some numbers indicate that close to 90.2% of all migrant farm workers in the U.S. are Mexican with 93% being foreign born, 65% of those here illegally having only the equivalent of a 6th grade education; we can only assume the exploitation occurring.[22] What percent of those workers involved are victims of human trafficking? The world will most likely never know.
Our world is nowhere close to seeing the end to human trafficking and modern slavery, but recognizing that there is a problem to be dealt with is the first step in the process – to acknowledge thatthese victims have no face, race, religion, nor nationality but yet, they walk among us, and go almost entirely unnoticed.
[1]Facts for Features: Hispanic Heritage Month 2010: Sept. 15 – Oct. 15. http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb10-ff17.html (September 2011).
[2]Slavery in Mexico: Mexico History. http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/666-slaveryin-mexico> (August 2011)
[3]Bales, Kevin, Zoe, Trodd, and Alex Williamson, Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People. (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009,) 57.
[4]Ibid.
[5]Ibid., 56.
[6]Ibid., 56.
[7]Ibid., 56.
[8]Ibid.
[9]Ibid.
[10]Ibid.
[11]"Modern-Day Slavery." Palm Beach Post, December 07, 2003. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs120 7.html (accessed September 6, 2011).
[12]Bales, Kevin, and Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories by Today's Slaves. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008,) 140.
[13]“Modern-Day Slavery." Palm Beach Post, December 07, 2003.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs120 7.html (accessed September 6, 2011).
[14]Ibid.
[15]Bales, Kevin, and Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories by Today's Slaves. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008,) 145.
[16]Ibid, 152.
[17]U.S. Department of State. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. Trafficking in Persons Report 2011. August 29,2011.
[18]Ibid.
[19]Ibid.
[20]Schaeffer-Grabiel, Felicity. "Sex Trafficking as the 'New Slave Trade'?." Sexualities. 13. no. 153 (2010): 149-153. http://uwashington.worldcat.org/oclc/1990615382929&referer=brief_results (accessed September 6, 2011).
[21]"Modern-Day Slavery." Palm Beach Post, December 07, 2003. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs120 7.html (accessed September 6, 2011).
[22]Ibid.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Bales, Kevin, Zoe, Trodd, and Alex Williamson. Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27
Million People. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009.
"Modern-Day Slavery." Palm Beach Post, December 07, 2003.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonagebl
rbs120 7.html (accessed September 6, 2011).
"Slavery in Mexico: Mexico History." Access Mexico Connect.
http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/666-slavery-in-mexico> (accessed Aug. 29,
2011)
U.S. Department of State. Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Trafficking in Persons Report 2011. August 29,2011.
Secondary Sources
Bales, Kevin, and Zoe Trodd. To Plead Our Own Cause: Personal Stories by Today's
Slaves. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2008.
Bales, Kevin, Zoe Trodd, and Alex Williamson. Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27
Million People. Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009.
Cicero-Dominguez, Salvador. "Assessing the U.S.-Mexico Fight Against Human
Trafficking and Smuggling: Unintended Results of U.S. Immigration Policy."
Northwestern University Journal of International Human Rights. 4. no. 2 (2005).
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/journals/jihr/v4/n2/2/ (accessed September 4, 2011).
“Facts for Features: Hispanic Heritage Month 2010: Sept. 15 – Oct. 15.” U.S. Census
Bureau: Profile America.
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_
editions/cb10-ff17.html (accessed September 5, 2011).
Schaeffer-Grabiel, Felicity. "Sex Trafficking as the 'New Slave Trade'?." Sexualities. 13.
no. 153 (2010): 149-153.
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/oclc/1990615382929&referer=brief_results (accessed
September 6, 2011).
2) Sex Industry: Life After "Emancipation"
Emily ShaversHuman sex trafficking has received worldwide attention over the past years. From dramatic television series to exclusive documentaries, this formerly little known crime escaped public's attention. However, even with the attention given to this crime with new laws and media reports, the aftermath of life after being trafficked has not been given its due consideration. These people who were once lost in the inhumane chaos of human sex trafficking attempt to live out normal lives through a number of different ways, the end result ranging from true freedom to behind the bars of a jail cell.
Local to federal governments painstakingly consider sex trafficking to be a serious, problematic growth that is happening globally. Chairman Dan Burton in his opening statement stated that “slaveholders trick and victimize innocent people into lifetimes of servitude by preying on the most economically disadvantaged members of society.”[1]The economic inequalities of poor and underdeveloped countries cause sheer desperation in women of lower social strata to the point of willingness to submit their own lives to the underworld criminals. In some ways, human trafficking sometimes requires a victim's cooperation in a criminal organization. As an apparent 'co-conspirator' in the sex trade, government officials have a difficult task in identifying them as a “victim” of human trafficking even if they have gone through psychological and physiological torture by their captors. Victims are sometimes financially compensated for their indentured servitude and sexual slavery which adds a degree of complexity in the determination of their legal status as a victim or criminal by government officials.
The traffickers are intelligent enough to make great profits while avoiding prison due to operating in extremely complex criminal organizations. Heather Smith further explains that typically, “victims of commercial sex trafficking come from poor countries and are trafficked into relatively wealthier countries.”[2] Government corruption, population density, social inequality, and political instability all contribute to illegal immigration of women across borders. Adding on to government corruption in other countries, most times, “local police and government officials extort money or accept bribes” from traffickers when attempting to “smuggle” young women across international borders into the United States.[3]
After the slaves are transported into the United States, they are practically invisiblein the public's eyes, besides to the consumers. Without passports or ID cards for undocumented victims, it’s extremely difficult for local law enforcement, FBI, or ICE agents to track individuals and more importantly, identify them as victims of human trafficking. Lieutenant Michael Correiasays he’s “keenly aware of the link between classified ads and prostitution...”[4] Law enforcers can look up these advertisements on websites such as craigslist to try and find illegal criminal activity in the neighborhoods. Usually, these ads sneak in “careful” words such as “body works or backrubs” that give a hint to buying sex.[5] The United States is doing its best to train criminal justice officials to see victims as victims rather than merely illegal immigrants or criminals.
While economic issues is a main reason for women to illegally or legally move across borders, it is important to define and understand the difference between sex trafficking and smuggling. Sex trafficking, according to the federal law, is if “such person: recruits, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains by any means another person…”[6] We can assume that most women, when they were younger, never dreamed of wanting or having the life as a prostitute. Therefore, the Human Rights Caucus decided to limit the definition of sex trafficking victims to those who were “coerced or deceived into working in the sex industry” since desperate women can usually “consent to sex work.”[7]
On the other hand, smuggling creates a more complex situation. Smuggling is when a woman voluntarily cross borders illegally. Smuggling may or may not be a part of the human trafficking business if the owner makes money by forced slavery of the smuggled persons. In this situation, it’s slightly more controversial for government officials to interpret the persons as victims. This is due to the victim's willingness to illegally cross the borders, knowing that it is a crime, but in fact, they were being trafficked as a slave.
Threatened by their captors and hearing unimaginable stories throughout their community about illegal women being deported or even jailedcertainly have prevented many survivors to seek help. Resources such as the T- Visa not only offers the opportunity for victims to legally reside in the United States, but it also provides protection as well as “public benefits such as Medicaid and Food Stamps,” victims generally bypass this chance due to the lack of education and lack of knowledge.[8] Furthermore, many sex trafficking “victims” are hesitant to cooperate with federal agencies and the only way to get legal status in the United States, under certain circumstances, is to “participate in the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers…”[9] As it is worse for “victims” who came to the United States willingly, an interview with an ICE investigator, a federal agency that deals with temporary visas and the conditions of obtaining a T- visa, proclaimed that “if the person was not identified as a human trafficking victim, then the person would have to be the child or parent of a human trafficking victim in order to qualify to the T-visa. There are certain conditions that may be met to receive temporary legal status in the USA, such as refugee status, but simply being an illegal alien doesn't allow to be granted a temporary visa.”[10] It is in the best interest for these survivors to be identified first as a victim.
Survivors of human sex trafficking, who are often undocumented, fear immediate deportation should they be identified at all. Many government agencies understand this fear, so in order to help change their perception, “Immigration and Custom Enforcement Agent for the Northeast, Bruce Folcart” stated that "we will work with them through other NGOs to make sure they are rescued, that they have the proper roofs over their heads and food. If we’re going to a prosecuting investigation, we work with them as well to ensure that we have the information at hand if we need them to testify.”[11] It is only fair for these victims to have a fair trial while acknowledging themselves as a true sex trafficking victim without enduring in any harsh punishment such as imprisonment.
Many times, “trafficking victims in the United States are often misidentified as perpetrators of illegal activity. This illegal activity often includes undocumented immigration and prostitution. Similarly, those forced to engage in illegal activity such as prostitution are often jailed and charged if their victimization is not recognized.”[12] Since “many states do not allow local police, such as city, county, or state police, to question the residence status of persons by law,” they have little choice but to arrest them unless the personsvolunteer information that they are a human sex trafficking victim.[13]Many times, it is hard to tell if a prostitute is engaging in sex work for their own benefit to make money or if they are an actual human sex trafficking victim. Again, this simple, but important identification determines their life after emancipation. However, as an ICE investigator mentioned, “many times, illegal aliens are given a court hearing date and released. They are to come back to court for a deportation hearing in front of a judge. At that time, they may be ordered to be deported” or not. [14] Those who were able to escape from their captors had their chance to cooperate with local organizations and if not identified as victims, most certainly will be treated as criminals.
Organizations such as WARN (Washington Anti- Trafficking Response Network), involving other communities like the Internal Rescue Committee and the Refugee Women’s Alliance, help these victims restore their life after emancipation. With donations and funding, these organizations are contributing “to provide these trafficking victims unlimited access from basic needs like blankets, food, and clothing to counseling.”[15] These organizations respect the victim’s needs and thus, separate the victims and the federal agencies if they wish to not have any contact. As a group effort with many contributors to the ongoing issue of human trafficking, survivors are still faced with the long term emotional and physical damage.
The life of finally being freed by either being rescued by law enforcements or escaping depends upon several factors. If identified as a human trafficking victim, there is the possibility of being allowed to legally reside in the United States and obtain social welfare benefits such as “(a) immediate safety, (b) emergency shelter, (c) basic necessities, (d) language interpretation, (e) emergency medical care, and (f) crisis legal advocacy” and so forth.”[16] However, even with such support, some women may still continue with what they did for the past number of years they were held captive; prostitution. For many women, “prostitution was the quickest and easiest way to earn a living” and with limited resources at hand, it was their only choice.[17]
For those not identified as a human trafficking victim, or refusing to cooperate with law enforcement, the likelihood of being arrested for various crimes such as prostitution is high. Given an illegal resident status in the United States, the risk of deportation is nearly certain after having completed any criminal jail sentences. The sole deciding factor of life after emancipation is whether or not the person has been identified as a human trafficking victim by the government. This identification will determine if the person will be arrested, charged, convicted, and deported as a criminal or if the person will be given a second chance at life without being further victimized in human trafficking.
As for psychological damage, most all sex trafficked victims went through many cycles of anxiety attacks never being able to let go of their treacherous past life. Inez, a young female from Mexico and now living in the United States after being coerced and smuggled across the borders, is trying “to act like a normal girl, but it is not always easy” she has a “steady job and will soon be promoted,” but she stated that “I lack confidence and never feel secure. Once in a while, I still have anxiety attacks. I still remember the horrible beatings, the constant threats, and the drunk and pushy customers. I am trying hard to be the person I was before I came to the United States.” [18] Most every story of these victims ends with, “I cannot forget what has happened. I can’t put it behind me. I find it nearly impossible to trust people. I still feel shame.”[19]
In the end, however, all of these human sex trafficking victims share the same suffering; shame, insecurity, exhaustion, paranoia, and terror. As a nation, our goal should stand firm to encourage human trafficking victims to testify against traffickers in the prosecution and investigation process in order to provide these victims another chance to rebuild their life and be seen as a human being, not an object. Our main weapon against human trafficking is the identification of the victims, which will determine if the victims will be rescued, or if they will become further victimized by governments treating them as criminals.
[1] House Committee on Government Reform. Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, The ongoing tragedy of international slavery and human trafficking: an overview : hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness of the Committee on Government, 108th Cong., 1st sess., 2003, 2.
[2]Heather Smith, “Sex trafficking: trends, challenges and the limitations of international law,”12. No. 3 (2011): 10.
[3]House on Committee on Foreign Affairs, Out of the Shadows: The Global Fight against Human Trafficking: hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs House of Representatives, 111th Cong., 2nd sess., 2010, 29.
[4] “Nail Salons Veil Human Trafficking in Boston Area,” narrated by Phillip Martin. Boston WGBH, July 8, 2010, http://wwe.wgbh.org/897/sex_and_labor_trafficking_in_new_england_part_one.cfm.
[5] Ibid.
[6]Washington State Legislature, "Revised Code of Washington (RCW)," (Accessed September 9, 2011).
[7]Marie Segrave, Sanja Milivojevic, and Sharon Pickering, Sex Trafficking international context and response. (Portland: Willan Publishing, 2009), 16- 17.
[8] Rebecca Macy and Natalie Johns, “Aftercare Services for International Sex Trafficking Survivors: Informing U.S. Service and Program Development in an Emerging Practice Area,”12. No. 2 (2010): 94.
[9] Ibid., 94.
[10] ICE investigator, interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 2, 2011.
[11]“Nail Salons Veil Human Trafficking in Boston Area,” narrated by Phillip Martin. Boston WGBH, July 8, 2010, http://wwe.wgbh.org/897/sex_and_labor_trafficking_in_new_england_part_one.cfm.
[12] Washington State Task Force against Trafficking of Persons; Washington (State) Dept. of Community, Trade, and Economic Development. Office of Crime Victims Advocacy. Washington State Task Force against Trafficking of Persons. Olympia: WA, July 2008, 4.
[13]ICE investigator, interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 2, 2011.
[14]ICE investigator, interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 2, 2011.
[15]Kathleen Morris, a representative of the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN), interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 5, 2011.
[16] Rebecca Macy and Natalie Johns, “Aftercare Services for International Sex Trafficking Survivors: Informing U.S. Service and Program Development in an Emerging Practice Area,”12. No. 2 (2010): 89.
[17] Anthony Destefano, The War on Human Trafficking U. S. Policy Assessed. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008), 89.
[18] Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause. New York : Cornell Univ. Press, 2008, 184.
[19] Ibid., 187.
BibliographyBales, Kevin and Zoe Trodd. To Plead Our Own Cause. New York : Cornell Univ. Press, 2008.
Bales, Kevin, Zoe Trodd, and Alex Kent Williamson. Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People. Oxford: Oneworld, 2009.
Destefano, Anthony. The War on Human Trafficking U. S. Policy Assessed. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
ICE investigator, interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 2, 2011.
Macy, Rebecca, and Natalie Johns. "Aftercare Services for International Sex Trafficking Survivors: Informing U.S. Service and Program Development in an Emerging Practice Area." 12. no. 2 (2010): 87-98.
Morris, Kathleen (WARN), interview by Emily Shavers, Seattle, WA, Sep. 5, 2011.
“Nail Salons Veil Human Trafficking In Boston Area.” Narrated by Phillip Martin. Boston WGBH, July 8, 2010. http://wwe.wgbh.org/897/sex_and_labor_trafficking_in_new_england_part_one.cfm.
Smith, Heather. "Sex Trafficking: Trends, Challenges, and the Limitations of International Law." 12. no. 3 (2011): 271-286.
Segrave, Marie, Sanja Milivojevic, and Sharon Pickering. Sex Trafficking: International context and response . Portland: Willan Publishing, 2009.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Out of the Shadows: The Global Fight against Human Trafficking: hearing before the Committee on Foreign Affairs House of Representatives. 111th Cong., 2nd sess., September 30, 2010.
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Government Reform. Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness. The ongoing tragedy of international slavery and human trafficking : an overview : hearing before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness of the Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives. 108th Cong., 1st sess., October 29, 2003.
Washington State Legislature, "Revised Code of Washington (RCW)." http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.40.100. (Accessed September 9, 2011).
Washington State Task Force Against Trafficking of Persons; Washington (State). Dept. of Community, Trade, and Economic Development. Office of Crime Victims Advocacy. Washington State Task Force against Trafficking of Persons. Olympia: WA, July 2008.
Washington State Task Force Against Trafficking of Persons; Washington (State). Dept. of Community, Trade, and Economic Development. Office of Crime Victims Advocacy. Human trafficking : present day slavery : the report of the Washington State Task Force Against Trafficking of Persons. Olympia: WA, June 2004.
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/kir/news/128539148.html3) The Conditions of Trafficked Latin Americans in the United States
Slavery has been officially abolished for more than 100 years. But what if there are still 27 million people enslaved now, will you still think that this is a problem far away from us? In a recent case reported in newspaper, a woman was caught into domestic servitude by a family in Bellevue, Seattle. It is difficult for us to believe this is happening in an area that is supposed to be one of the safest districts in Seattle under our nose, not to mention that it is in the most democratic countries in the world. But it had actually happened.
The Current Situation of Human Trafficking
Today, nearly 27 million people have been enslaved or been victims of trafficking. Slavery is growing to be the third most profitable crime in the world, falling only behind arms smuggling and drug trafficking. It has been estimated by the U.S Department of State that nearly 800,000 to 900,000 people are being trafficked annually in the world, in these 800, 000 to 900, 000 people, 14, 500 to 17, 500 were been trafficked into the United States.[1] 286 immigrants were confirmed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as victims of human trafficking in 2008. In a survey of 1464 migrant workers, Mexicans made up the highest percentage at 90.2 %.[2]
“And so, one by one, they went to see "Florentina," the recruiter who promised jobs in the United States. They signed her papers, bought their passports, kissed their families, and, a bit scared but optimistic, boarded buses for Florida, the promised land.”[3]
"I really imagined life here would be something different"
The is what happened to a female Mexican corn harvester from Hidalgo, Mexico. She has been trafficked to Florida and She is a typicalexample of what is happening in now in the human trafficking industry. Large numbers of Mexican were swindled away from Mexico due to fake promises such as higher wages than they would have earned in Mexico. In one case, two 15 year old Mexican girls were told by a Mexican family that they will offer a job in the health care industry to them. But after the two 15 year old Mexican girls were smuggled into the United States, they were been forced to work in a prostitution crime ring.[4] The human smugglers, or coyotes, usually trick victims into believing their lies and smuggle the victims across the US-Mexico border.
Large amount of people left their home country to pursue a higher standard of living; this has cause a very big increase in supply of potential slaves. Globalization also act as another push factor for the increase of supply of potential slaves, remote area are now more connected to the global economy and people can move more freely to different part of the world now.[5] In contrary, the demand for slaves is relatively low comparing to the 1850s. Slavery is only a tool used by minorities since slavery had been declared illegal now in almost every country, and slaves do not play a crucial part in any country’s economy. These above reasons have caused the supply and demand relationship of slaves and slave-owners to change drastically over the years. The cost of slaves had fall to the lowest point in history, but the profit a slave can make is still enormous. This had cause the booming of modern human trafficking. The average price of slaves in America during the 1850s was equal to $1000 to $1800 in today’s currency. But now, the cost of acquiring a slave in some parts of the world can be as low as $10, and the average price for a slave now is around $90.[6] The lack of enforcement and execution to stop slavery is also another factor contributing to the prosperity of the slave trade. “The impunity of the traffickers with only 77convictions nationwide in 2008, helps explain the growth of trafficking”[7] Both of the above reasons lead to the ill treatment of slaves today since their owner disregard slave’s lives due to the relatively inexpensive price of slaves and the abundance of slaves in the market.
Through reading and research, it was shocking that there is presence of slave trade in our democratic modern world, I was equally as shocking when I found out the conditions which the current slaves are in. The inhumane approach of their owners struck my conscience. Latin American Victims of human trafficking in the U.S suffer from a myriad of extreme physical and mental plights. Victims are exposed to physical mistreatment such as physical abuses, sexual assaults, laboring overtime and receiving unreasonably low wages, malnutrition, exposure to deadly disease such as HIV due to living/working in unsanitary environments, and sometimes even killed. Victims also undergo mental agony due to brainwashing, the inability to speak local languages, isolation from family members and religious or ethnic communities, and the fearfulness of police detection.[8] [9]
Ways of confinement.
"You were locked up... you couldn't stick your head out," [10]
“This is a place to work, and if you’re going to complain about it we’re going to kill you and throw your ass into the pond”**[11]**
After the victims trespass the US border or are transported from other places, coyotes will usually claim a cost for these services. Since the 9/11 attack, the U.S government has spent billions of dollar to enhance border protection. Due to the increased difficulty to come into United States, the fee for smuggling one person sometimes can be $10,000 or more.[12] This is when debt-bondage can occurs, a debt-bondage is a kind of work-loan relationship which is created when someone pledges himself against a loan and is being forced to repay their loan through work. “With higher costs and illegal entry, ever larger numbers of illegal immigrants remain in debt bondage or in forced labor for as long as a decade to the same exploiter”[13] Some people ended up working for the same people for as long as ten year to repay the debt. Traffickers will lock victims up in a certain area to prevent them from escaping, and order them to work regardless of the time of day to pay-off their debt. Sometimes trafficker will appoint his trusted employee to guard the premise. Guards are sometimes armed with guns; they watch over victims and prevent them from communicating to the outside world. Traffickers will also set up obstacles such as fences around the premise to prevent victims from escaping.[14] [15] "Everything was locked up with a key."[16] Victims’ freedom of moving was severely limited. Victims were often escorted if they were to go out. Whenever any victims are caught trying to escape, traffickers will use
acts such as physical abuse or threatening of deportation to stop them from having any thoughts of escaping.[17]
Traffickers will not only confine victims physically, but also psychologically. “Psychological confinement can be created through control of the victim’s money and control of their passports, visas, or other identifying documents. Psychological confinement can also be created through debt bondage.”[18] Traffickers will also threaten the victims by claiming that they will report the victims to police if they tried to escape. Victims are also told that they will be charged and deported if they went to the police to ask for help.
During the usage of debt bondage, the uncertainties of when the debt would be repaid, and the relatively low wages victims receive, make the debt almost impossible to payoff. Furthermore, the exorbitant charge and the unregulated interest rate lead victims into an endless loop of labor, and virtually never had the chance to free themselves through work. “He said we would pay what we owed easily. But when we got here, there was little work, only eight or 10 hours per week. We were being paid about $50. Out of that, we had to each pay $70 per month for rent."[19] In the case of the two 15 years old Mexican girls, the coyotes told them that they need to pay off a $2000 smuggling fee. In order to repay, they were forced to provide sexual services to migrant workers in different trailers around various places in Florida. They were only paid $3 per sexual encounter, and needed to pay other fees such as medical expenses by themselves.[20]
A lot of illegal immigrants who are trafficked into the United States have been recruited by a contractor, who acts like a middle man between the labor workers and the company which hired them. In order to make companies believe that the workers recruited are legal workforce, the contactors will forge an identity for them with a social security number. “The contractors take care of everything. They give you your name, your Social Security number.”[21] We don't even fill out an application.' This is an act of dehumanization; victims might suffer from the loss of self worth and lost their identity over time. Victims’ mind is weakened through this process and will be more vulnerable to psychological abuse and confinement.
This sometimes also acts as another ways for the crafty contactor to exploit the victims; the contractor will ask victims to pay Social Security taxes, but it is him who takes the money. A lot of victims pay taxes for years but had never received any social benefits in return, since their money never went to the Social Security Agency.
There are different ways to control and confine victims, but most of them is related to the dehumanization of victims “Strategy of psychological confinement is related to psychological degradation and abuse.”[22] Victims are lead into thinking that they are a kind of “thing” instead of human. Victims are sold as commodities to another labor contractor, and the labor contractor will not free them until they earn him enough profit. “They told me that these labor contractors who ran the trailer had 'bought' them from a coyote, and that's why they couldn't go out without permission.” Victims living in such verbal environment will change their thoughts overtime and they themselves do not view themselves as human anymore, ultimately leading them to the total subornation to the traffickers.
Traffickers also try to prevent victims from escaping by threatening to expose their circumstances to their family or the public. This is especially effective if the victim has been forced into sex trafficking. In one case, “women was raped by acquaintance, he used cultural and religious shame tactics and basically black-mailed her into becoming domestic servant and sexual slave”[23] Most victims are morally humiliated while being forced to participate in the sex trafficking crime ring, and they do not choose to repatriate themselves back to their countries even when they are freed due to the awe of their relative and friends knowing what they had gone through. Unfortunately, they still remain in the industry.
After victims encounter abominable circumstances and thinking they have no way to escape, they will start to adapt to the situation they are in. Victims will immerse in the fear of deliberate physical assault, neglect, lacking of sufficient medical attention, fear of violence against love one, etc. after the innermost being of the victims had surrendered to the trafficker and started to develop obedience to the trafficker. “Once behavioral submission is adopted, cognitive changes often occur as part of the process. For example,
cognitions may become narrowed, distracted, or numbed”[24] They will then fall into a state of mental defeat. Mental defeat is defined as “the perceived loss of all autonomy, a state of giving up in one’s mind all efforts to retain one’s identity as a human being with a will of one’s own”[25] Negative emotions and instinct of repulsion to mistreatment will mitigate when victims have this state of mental defeat. Victims will think of themselves as simply an object to their traffickers and a deep sense of loss of identity follows.[26] “They just broke me down, shattered my will and hopes. I was humiliated”[27] In one case, a 24 year old Mexican woman said that she could live with the condition of only leaving the premise once per week, with permission from others.[28] This shows that victims had loss the sense of pursuing basic freedom and had accepted the fact that she should obey to what trafficker said. This is a sign and one effect of mental defeat.
Tough living conditions
Victims often lived in a severely overcrowded environment; sometimes eight to fifteen people might stay in a one- or two-bedroom house. “We were piled in a dorm, three beds on top of each other, six in a room. The person on top had to jump over all of us just to get to the floor.”[29] Some of the workers cannot afford to have mattresses; as a result, some of them have to sleep on flattened cupboard on the floor. Some victims also suffer from insect bites during the night because they do not have bed frame to lift them off the ground.[30] [31] Traffickers use these measures to cut down on living costs. Other squalid drawbacks in living environments include lack of running water, lack of shelter from rain as the roof leaks, etc. “In essence, it's not a great deal different than it was back in slavery days, or where you're an indentured servant.”[32]
Conclusion
The conditions and circumstances Latin American Slaves are facing now are abominable and they suffer from losses of basic human rights. It is unbelievable that this is actually happening 100 years after slavery have been abolished. The torture and suffering victims are currently facing is tremendous and it should be stopped. Although it will take a lot of time and effort to stop slavery, but we should give it a try. “Slavery is ripe for extinction”[33]. In some region, stopping slavery is going to be arduous task because the thoughts of slavery are deeply rooted into the society. Some countries had already realized the importance of this problem and have taken measures to stop slavery, but they do not have or do not devote enough resources onto it. But in some other countries, they have the adequate resources to stop it. The only reason why slavery still exists there now is due to a serious lack of political will to abolish modern slavery.[34] There must be more exposure on human trafficking and the public must be more aware of the severity of this issue in order to push the government into more action to end human trafficking. Human trafficking is not far from us, you can be the next victim. Together, we can put it to an end.
[1] Jeremy M. Wilson and Erin Dalton, Human Trafficking in Ohio: markets, responses, and considerations (Santa Monica: RAND Corporation, 2007), 11.
[2]Christine Stapleton, “Pickers wade in pesticides,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/pesticide1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011).
[3] Christine Evans, “Woman: Farm imprisoned Us,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/tomatowomen1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011).
[4] Palm Beach Post Staff, “Five recent slavery cases,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs1207.html (Accessed 10 September 2011)
[5] Louise shelly, Human Trafficking: a global perspective (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 37
[6] Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd and Alex Kent Williamson, Modern Slavery (Oxford: Oneworld Publication, 2009), 28-29.
[7] Louise shelly, Human Trafficking: a global perspective (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 230.
[8]Jini L. Robyⅰ, Jennifer Turleyⅱand JoAnna Garrick Cloward, “U.S. Response to Human Trafficking: Is it enough?,” Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, no.6:4 (2008): 6.
[9] Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd and Alex Kent Williamson, Modern Slavery (Oxford: Oneworld Publication, 2009), 124.
[10] Palm Beach Post Staff, “Five Recent Slavery Cases,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs1207.html (Accessed 10 September 2011)
[11] Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause (New York: Cornell University Press, 2008), 143.
[12] Louise shelly, Human Trafficking: a global perspective (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 232.
[13] Kevin Bales and Stephen Lize, “Trafficking in Persons in the United States,” National Institute of Justice Report, 2005.
[14] Christine Evans, “Woman: Farm imprisoned Us,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/tomatowomen1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011).
[15] Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause (New York: Cornell University Press, 2008), 141-142.
[16] Palm Beach Post Staff, “Five recent cases with slavery convictions,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs1207.html (Accessed 10 September 2011)
[17]Stephanie Hepburn and Rita J. Simon, “Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in the United States,” An Original Article, no.27 (2010): 5
[18]T. K. Logan, Robert Walker and Gretchen Hunt, “Understanding Human Trafficking In The United States,” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, no.10:1 (2009): 14
[19]John Lantigua, “Labor under lock and fist,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/slave1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011).
[20] Palm Beach Post Staff, “Five recent Slavery Cases,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/peonageblurbs1207.html (accessed 10 September 2011)
[21]Christine Evans and Christine Stapleton, “If it's Tuesday, he's Jose,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/namegame1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011)
[22]T. K. Logan, Robert Walker and Gretchen Hunt, “Understanding Human Trafficking In The United States,” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, no.10:1 (2009): 14
[23]ibid: 14
[24]T. K. Logan, Robert Walker and Gretchen Hunt, “Understanding Human Trafficking In The United States,” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, no.10:1 (2009): 15
[25]Ibid: 16
[26] Ibid: 16
[27] Ibid: 14
[28] Christine Evans, “Woman: Farm Imprisoned Us,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/tomatowomen1207.html (accessed on September 10, 2011).
[29] Kevin Bales and Zoe Trodd, To Plead Our Own Cause (New York: Cornell University Press, 2008), 144
[30]John Lantigua, “Labor Under Lock and Fist,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/slave1207.html (accessed on September 11, 2011).
[31]Christine Evans , “Fellsmere Migrants in Squalor,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/fellsmere1207.html (accessed on September 11, 2011)
[32]Christine Evans , “Fellsmere Migrants in Squalor,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003, http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/fellsmere1207.html (accessed on September 11, 2011)
[33] Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd and Alex Kent Williamson, Modern Slavery (Oxford: Oneworld Publication, 2009), 145.
[34] Ibid, 145.
Bibliography
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Evans, Christine. “Fellsmere Migrants in Squalor,” Palm Beach Post, December 7, 2003. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/hp/content/moderndayslavery/reports/fellsmere1207.html (accessed on September 11, 2011).
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Hepburn, Stephanie and Simon, Rita J. “Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in the United States.” An Original Article, no.27 (2010): 5.
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